Desire.

The human realm is one of desire.

Desire leads to frustration,

that maintains the desire,

which becomes an addiction.

That’s how we get stuck!

Desire fills emptiness – our essence.

Desire is the neurotic aspect of the wisdom of emptiness.

The opposite of emptiness is desire.

Through attraction, empty space is filled.

Our pure sacred empty essence acquires adornments.

which fill that space.

Essence becomes preoccupied, forgetting itself.

Space becomes excited, and that very action creates ego.

Desire is very precise. Its enlightened quality is Discriminating-Wisdom.

I desire tomatoes on toast (I normally do!). This thought brightens my mind. Now, I can have tomatoes on toast if it’s available, or just let it be. I don’t have to hunger for it at all costs. I know precisely what I would like, and if it causes no harm and is available, that’s okay…and I have to eat! Either way, I am satisfied.

We are not vegetables! We have emotions! These emotions can either create suffering, or redirect awareness to recognising its true nature. The desire to know one’s true nature is a tool, and once realised, the tool is no longer needed.

If we fear our emotions, or think we shouldn’t have them, we will be troubled by guilt. Or even worse, we will accuse others of having them. In this way we go round in circles, lost in Samsara.

Now, here is an important point! Be very careful to whom you talk! There are those whose temperament may not be the same as yours. They may fear emotions, or claim that you need an antidote for your affliction, as the emotions are something to be removed. For them, this is their way of coping with their mind. These people can easily project fear – their fear – on to you. 

It’s the same when people project their ego on to us.

There is a traditional story: Two monks were walking along a road. They see a girl who cannot pass, as a big muddy hole is in her way. One monk lifts her up and carries her over the obstacle and puts her down. When the two monks arrive at the monastery, one monk said to the other, “You should not have touched that girl.” The other replied, “I put her down at the mud hole.”

Buddha in the mud is all about the secret life of emotions, revealing their wisdom aspect. So be careful, as others may not see it that way. Merging Dharma with life means living Dharma, not separating life and Dharma.

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